On The Edge
by AoNoHime
Summary: When Sonic is called in to help with a job, he's worried that he may not be cut out for it. After he fully understands what's happening, he'll need to look to the past to help save someone's future. Rated T for minor language and themes of bullying, depression, and suicide. One-shot. Based in STC, though fans of any Sonic can understand it.


**A/N: So I had a dream like this last night and thought I'd write it out, though with some changes so it actually makes sense. I'm not sure how much it'll change him, but this is based on STC's Sonic. **

**TRIGGER WARNING. THIS STORY DEALS WITH ISSUES SUCH AS BULLYING, DEPRESSION, AND SUICIDE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.**

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><p>"Thank you for coming Sonic. We're not sure how else to go about this."<p>

Sonic simply nodded. He could tell the owl was trying to do his best to keep calm, but he could hear how afraid he actually was. It wasn't the kind of fear he was used to. Not only was a full grown owl scared, but it was a weird kind of scared.

The whole situation was weird. He didn't even know what they wanted him to do. After all, he was the big shot hero that fought badniks and saved people. He was the kind of person that used his fists, not his words.

Everything had been explained to him on the phone, so they walked up the stairs to the roof in silence. At the top, a young red fox was looking through the window frantically.

The owl, the principal that called him over, placed a feathered hand on her shoulder, "Has he moved?"

She looked back briefly, her faced etched with worry, before turning back to the little window in the door, "No, he's just sitting there. We've tried talking to him but nothing is helping," Her voice cracked with emotion, "He keeps threatening to jump and I don't know what to do."

Sonic shuffled, the heavy air making him uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, "I know this is bad and all but, what do you want me to do?"

The woman looked to him, the fur around her eyes wet as she gave him a pleading look, "The students all look up to you, you're the one person he might listen to!" She grabbed his shoulders, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Please! You have to try!"

He leaned back slightly at her outburst. He could handle giant killer robots and even monsters, but tears were something he didn't handle well, "Uh, yeah, I'll...give it a shot…"

Before opening the door, he stretched up and peeked through the window. Standing by the ledge ahead was a boy, probably around his age, though he couldn't be certain. According to the principal over the phone, his name was Neil. From what he could tell, he looked like a mouse with round glasses sitting on his snout.

Breathing a sigh, he opened the thick metal door, the weight making the hinges creak. Hearing the sound, the boy immediately turned around to face him, his face angry before seeing who it was. He soften into an emotionless stare, "Why are you here?"

Sonic flinched. His voice was cold. Even he, who was far from an expert on people's feelings, could tell he wasn't right. Everything had been explained to him, but he wasn't expecting it to be like this. He started feeling uncomfortable. He was not cut out for this kind of thing.

He swallowed, "People are worried about you. They asked me to come over and-"

Neil scoffed, "Yeah right. They just don't want a lawsuit on their hands. They don't give two shits about me."

Sonic shook his head, "That's not true. You have a teacher bawling her eyes out worrying about you!"

He was about to take a step forward, but Neil's eyes flicked down and he took a step back, "Don't come near me!"

Instantly Sonic stopped. He couldn't get close by walking, and running to him wouldn't help since he'd just struggle and fight back. Why did he get called for this again?

There had to be something he could do to help, "Why not step away from there so we can take, yeah?"

Neil's fists clenched and eyes narrowed, "No! No matter what I do everyone calls me a freak and I'm done with it!" He backed up another step, his shoes teetering over the edge.

Sonic panicked, not knowing what to do. He instinctively reached into the air, "Wait!"

The mouse paused, "What now?"

He could catch him. He could easily run and grab him before he fell. But somehow he knew that wouldn't help. Taking a deep breath, he shot him a weak smile, "Wanna hear something I've never told anyone?"

Neil shifted slightly forward, seeming to be curious, though still not stable, "What?"

Sonic stood straight and did his best to sound calm and sincere, "I know what you're feeling you know."

The mouse gritted his teeth, "No you don't! It doesn't matter what you do, everyone loves you!"

Sonic shook his head, "They do now yeah."

Neil frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, before all this," he waved his hands over himself, "I was, well," he hesitated for a moment, "a freak."

He sneered with a harsh laugh, "Yeah right. Were you teased for being able to do something others couldn't? Did people make fun of you because of something you couldn't help? I highly doubt it."

"No, seriously," he slid his foot forward slightly, the action going unnoticed by Neil. He would be able to make it over as long as he moved slowly, something he was far from good at, and kept Neil's attention. For some reason, the words weren't coming easily. He never talked about his childhood, and now he could see why. He hesitated for a moment before finally finding his words, "I know exactly how you feel. I didn't have parents or a family. I got called a freak of nature because I could run a little faster and acted different. People told me I wouldn't live up to anything, that I couldn't be someone. They told me my talents were stupid and useless and that they could see why my parents abandoned me."

He was able to take a few more slow steps forward. The pace was making him anxious, but he had to hold on to what little patience he had. He had Neil's full attention, and he had to make it last.

All the anger was gone from his face and was replaced by curiosity, "So...what did you do?"

Sonic gave him a pained look. He couldn't help but physically remember what he had felt. He hated feeling like this, but he had to put up with it, just this one time. Being the hero meant putting your feelings aside to help others after all. There was no way he would give up on this kid because he felt uneasy about his own past.

He sighed, "What you're doing now; I hated everyone. I hated the people that mocked me and the people that didn't do anything about it."

Apparently, he was right about how he was feeling. Neil reeled back a little, his eyes reflecting how much that statement hurt. Tears welled up in his eyes and he grew angry again, but his anger seemed to be targeted to himself instead, "I don't understand! Why didn't you just give up? If you hated everyone so much, why not just get away from everything?"

Looking him in the eye, Sonic's eyes hardened and face turned serious, "I didn't want them to win."

Neil's head jerked up, his face melting away from the fury he had been feeling. Instead, he silently looked at the hedgehog with widened eyes.

Still taking cautious steps forward, he continued, "If I had done what you're about to do, if _you_ do what you're about to do," he pointed in the general direction of the door, "those losers in the school win. They tell you you'll live up to nothing, and that will be true if you die now. Do you want them to be right?"

They both hesitated for a moment, both of them silent and still. Sonic still held his firm look, looking Neil directly in the eyes. The mouse said nothing for a moment before his eyes began to well up, his face scrunching up with pure emotion. He responded with a small voice, "No, I don't," He sniffled and brought a hand up to his tear soaked eyes, "But what do I do?"

Finally close enough, Sonic laid both his hands on the young mouse's shoulders, "You spite them by proving them wrong. Yeah it'll be rough, but when you grow up to be someone better than them it'll be worth it. You'll be the person that becomes someone to be proud of while they wallow in self pity, wishing they had treated you better. All you need is someone who believes in you."

Neil shook his head, his voice cracking, "But I don't have anyone like that."

Sonic leaned down to look him in the face and grinned, "I know you do; because I believe in you."

Now sobbing, the young mouse reached around Sonic in a tear filled embrace. Not used to hugs, Sonic stiffly put his arms around him and awkwardly patted his back. Once again, tears just weren't his thing.

Neil pulled back and smiled with a wet face and red eyes, "Thank you Sonic, for everything."

The blue hedgehog winked, "Just promise me you'll become a person that you can be proud of."

He responded with a nod and a smile, "I'll make them eat their words, I promise. I'll become as awesome as you one day!"

Sonic chuckled and slung one arm over his shoulder, "Aiming a little high there, no? I'm _pretty_ awesome these days."

The response won him a laugh from the mouse, who seemed to be feeling much better.

They both made their way to the door. Before opening it, Sonic looked to him, "I want you to know that it's not going to be easy, so I'm making a special deal you and only you. If things start to feel too rough to handle again, you can contact me and I'll be over in a sonic second, alright? You promise you'll do that?"

Again, Neil smiled and nodded, "I promise."

Smiling back with his trademark grin, Sonic opened the door. Immediately after, the red fox burst out and embraced Neil, "Oh Neil, thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried about you!" She backed up and held his face in her small hands, "You promise to come to me from now on, okay? If anyone ever teases you again I'll use all my teacherly power to stop them, alright?"

It took a moment for Neil to break out of the initial shock of practically being jump tackled by a teacher. He then gave her a broad smile, not realising until now just how much she actually cared about him, "I promise."

The teacher looked back up to Sonic while grinning from ear to ear, "Thank you Sonic, thank you so much!"

He nodded, "Not a problem!" Shuffling over to Neil, he leaned over and whispered, "We'll keep all of that talk between us, right?"

Understanding what he meant, the mouse smiled in response before heading down the stairs with his teacher, the principal following closely behind after giving his brief thanks.

From the top, he watched the student and teacher walk down together and couldn't help but smile. While he would keep his side of the deal, he was glad to know the kid had someone else to go to. With Robotnik still causing trouble, he may not be able to be there whenever he needed.

He closed his eyes, "I'm glad that you have your own Johnny to help you kid. I know I needed him," then chuckled with a smirk, "'Course, he'll never hear me say that."

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><p><strong>AN: So I decided to write this out because I've noticed that there's a lot of young people in the Sonic community that suffer from problems like this. Heck, I have problems like this. I wanted to write it because I figured it was a nice way to try and bring some hope to others and I hope that's what you take from this. I want to help people realise that, no matter what, there's always something to strive for. **

**Sonic's backstory is more-or-less a head canon, but Johnny is an actual character in STC. He was apparently friends with Sonic and originally inspired him to run. I've always liked to think they Johnny was one of Sonic's only friends, plus that theory is based on STC canon stuff. I also based the red fox teacher on one of my own teachers who really helped me out in my own dark time. **


End file.
